Conventional history portrays the Dark Ages as an ominous period precipitated by
the fall of Rome. We are led to believe that the torch of civilisation flickered
only in isolated monasteries that dotted the landscape of a Europe otherwise engulfed
in darkness.

Barbarians challenges the accepted view of events passed down to us by the Roman
accounts of the barbarian world. The Romans, like every imperial power, had a vested
interest in propagating their own view of history but if we read between the lines
and delve deep into the archaeological record multiple cultural vistas emerge from
the shadows of Rome.

Our own ancestors were much more than barbarians — their languages, arts and other
cultural treasures have shaped and moulded the destiny of Europe more than the Roman
Empire that once held them in its vice-like grip. It is the ethnic mosaic of the
Huns, Goths, Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and others that the author reveals in
this retelling of an often misunderstood time in our collective history.

Reviews:

'It is rare that a historical documentary can genuinely shake your view of the world,
but by pointing out Western stifling reverence for Roman culture, Rudgley succeeds'